Fluorene- and fluorenone-based molecules as electron-transporting SAMs for photovoltaic devices

Abstract

New semiconductors containing fluorene or fluorenone central fragments along with phosphonic acid anchoring groups were synthesized and investigated as electron transporting materials for possible application in photovoltaic devices. These derivatives demonstrate good thermal stability and suitable electrochemical properties for effective electron transport from perovskite, Sb2S3 and Sb2Se3 absorber layers. Self-assembled fluorene and fluorenone electron-transporting materials have shown improved substrate wettability, indicating bond formation between monolayer-forming compounds and the ITO, TiO2, Sb2S3, or Sb2Se3 surface. Additionally, investigated materials have compatible energetic band alignment and can passivate perovskite interface defects, which makes them interesting candidates for application in the n-i-p structure perovskite solar cell. © 2024 The Royal Society of Chemistry. --//-- This is an open-access article Svirskaite, Lauryna Monika; Kasparavičius, Ernestas; Steponaitis, Matas; Grzibovskis, Raitis; Franckevičius, Marius; Katerski, Atanas; Naujokaitis, Arnas; Karazhanov, Smagul; Gopi, Sajeesh Vadakkedath; Aizstrauts, Arturs; Vembris, Aivars; Getautis, Vytautas; Malinauskas, Tadas, "Fluorene- and fluorenone-based molecules as electron-transporting SAMs for photovoltaic devices", RSC Adv., 2024, volume 14, issue 21, pages 14973-14981, doi 10.1039/D4RA00964A published under CC BY-NC licence.